Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well I ended up doing a lot more in the garden than I thought I would. I started to trim some of the runners from the ivy on one of our fences, by the time I’d finished that lot, I had filled the wheelbarrow! I also did some dead heading and generally tidied up a bit. I also pinned some strawberry runners into small pots, I’d done a few last week, but there are now 8 in total, I’ll put them all in a large trough next spring. 

 

After dinner I spent what was left of the afternoon in the workshop, where I completed the 2 figures I’d been painting. The painting was touched up and each figure than had a 0.52mm hole drilled into one of their legs and a short piece of 0.5mm brass rod was glued into the hole. These will then be used to fix the figures into place near the turntable hut, ones suitable holes have been made into the base. 

 

This evening it was my turn to ring my brother in Canada, as is the norm with our conversations, we talked about family, the price of fuel, politics, weather etc.

 

PB. About the turntable, this is a much modified PECO (LK55) kit, the bridge extension fitted to one end is scratch built.

Both the drive mechanism and indexing system are home made and the accuracy of the bridge indexing is + or - 0.5mm at the rails.

The bridge, which is belt driven, can be physically moved by hand without affecting the accuracy or damaging the drive mechanism.

The rails on the bridge itself are live at all times and with the aid of a DCC booster, they will automatically change polarity when necessary, which means that sound fitted locos don’t suddenly switch off and on again when passing the original ‘Dead Spot’. 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by BSW01

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[BlackRat]

Never trust a man,  who when  left alone in a room with a tea cosy….. doesn’t put it on his head….

[PhilJ W]

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[jjb1970]

8 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Unless you were reading something from the early 60s

 

It was on their website yesterday in an article about the gardens by the bay. Most people here found it funny and enjoyed extracting the urine. Unfortunately it also kicked off some of the rather unpleasant dislike that exists just below the surface between some Malaysian and Singaporean people, oh dear.......

[jjb1970]

I often wonder if Malaysia regrets kicking Singapore out of Malaysia. For those who have never been out here the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore is rather complex. The national language of Singapore is Malay and Malay culture has a special place in Singapore as legally it is recognised as the indigenous culture of the country. However the majority of the population is ethnically Chinese and Mandarin is the first language of many Chinese (though many Chinese here speak English as their first language and have very limited Mandarin). When Britain gave independence to the Malay Federation it included Singapore, however some Malaysian people and politicians saw Singapore as some sort of Chinese Trojan horse, there are historic ethnic tensions between the Chinese and Malay/Indonesian people across this region, which in the 60's was also wrapped up with Chinese Communism. At times this can become savage (look into what followed Sokarno's year of living dangerously when he was deposed by the army in 60's Indonesia, or following the 1997 economic crash in Indonesia), and even today Malaysia maintains the bumiputera system of legal favour for Malay people over the Chinese. Singapore was ejected from Malaysia and became a republic as it was seen as solving an ethno-political problem for Malaysia, and in fairness I think most Singaporean people would consider that Kuala Lumpur did them a huge favour. However there is a lot of ill-feeling below the harmonious surface between both countries. The reason Singapore is armed to the teeth is in case Malaysia ever has second thoughts, they have a special relationship with Indonesia based on a shared position relative to Malaysia (which is ironic as Singapore and Malaysia are both in the five powers defence agreement which was pretty much aimed at Indonesia). Like anywhere else you don't have to probe too far below the surface to find a lot of less commendable aspects to things.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Nothing planned for today.. othervthan a lot of work room tidy up..pah!

 

No news from our hospital bound cousin in law. They will bring her "back" from her coma when they think she is ready for it. Her daughter (who works with a lot of stroke patients) has asked to be there when this happens. Only when she is fully awake can they work out how much brain damage she has suffered and to see how it is affecting her.  Very worrying times for all concerned.

 

Time for my mugatea.

 

TTFN

Baz

[polybear]

8 hours ago, pH said:

“The Crow Road” by Iain Banks begins with the line “It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

 

If true then this is shocking - and the Doc should be hauled up in front of the GMC:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/widow-forced-to-verify-husband-s-death-on-video-call-because-gp-would-not-visit/ar-AA11bZKj?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d67652d851b64b7da007c7fa4974c602

 

"Moira Evans, a friend of the widow who was there at the time and has spoken to The Telegraph, said: “He then sent a link to a video chat… [and said] ‘hold the camera to the dead body’. My friend at this point said ‘I can’t, can you do it please Moira?’, and so I did it.”

The GP explained that “they don’t come out any more to certify death, that you have to do it yourself on a smartphone”, she said".

 

6 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

The national language of Singapore is Malay and Malay culture has a special place in Singapore as legally it is recognised as the indigenous culture of the country. However the majority of the population is ethnically Chinese and Mandarin is the first language of many Chinese 

 

Bear worked a couple of times in Malaysia (2006 and 2008); we were working with a UK Field Service Rep. from another company who was married to a Malay woman and lived in the country (he owned his own house there).  I recall him telling us at the time that much of the money in Malaysia is actually Chinese-owned  (the big 5/6 bed houses next to his place were chinese owned, for example - IIRC he said the fishing fleet bosses lived their).

 

Bear here.....

Yesterday saw measurement for a stair carpet in order to see how much I'll need to go with the  large offcut I have; the good news is the offcut is large enough for the landing and hallway after all (though there is a question mark over pile direction - the carpet orientation in the hallway will be at 90 degrees to that in the lounge, which may or may not be an issue it seems).  But for the stairs I'll still need another 4m x 2m - I need to check when I may need to purchase that, as if the style/colour is dropped on 31st Dec (for example) then I'd be stuffed....

Apart from that it was a MIUABGA day - the cupboard door is planned (it'll be a made-to measure pre-finished kitchen door); the lounge door is a bit of a pain though - whilst it's standard width (30") the doorframe height above the carpet measures at 77.25" (a door is 78").  So Bear needs to remove something like 19mm from the door (a bit off the top and the same off the bottom) - but door manufacturers quote something like 6mm max from each end (some are only 3mm); there is one manufacturer that does quote 9mm from each end but (a) no-one nearby stocks their (expensive) doors - and the Bearmobile isn't nearly long enough to get a door fully inside - I'll shift a door locally with it hanging out the back (with suitable warnings hung on the door) but I'm not so keen on long distance as being tail-ended wouldn't be funny as I'd rather not have a door shoved into my lower spine by an Artic, and (b) I want a pre-finished/fully painted door so want to select it and transport it myself to make sure it's totally unmarked.

So it looks like going thru' the stack in B&Q is the solution, and then plane off more than the manufacturer would like.

 

In other news....

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/you-pay-for-electricity-then-throw-it-away-gb-news-viewer-points-out-flaw-in-evs/ar-AA11bBCf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=f25d29a203fa4439f962ee375bb90f22

 

"I live in a flat so I don't have a home charger and I had to park it on the street. In the winter when temperatures dropped to freezing the Tesla lost five percent charge a day.

 

Another viewer named Sheila told GB News: "Coming back from Southport a couple of weeks ago we were stuck in a two-hour traffic jam with the temperature at 32 degrees.

"It was caused by an electric car having a flat battery in the middle of the road works. When they have flat batteries you can't push them."

[polybear]

Bear is rather busy today....it's time for the Annual stock-take of the SCR......

 

Puppers @PupCam stands ready to assist with the ignition sequence......

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente  where it's due to get to 34 today.  Due to thecforecast I went out for a bike ride before breakfast. I was very pleased 13 miles with an average of 14.  I hardly rode my bike for theclast 2 years and am very pleased that my legs still seem to work reasonably  well.  I only saw 1 car en route plus 2 tractors.  Tractors don't count as they are working.  Then a jogger and finally a magnificent Hen Harrier that I followed for about 300 yards between trees.  The locals know then as white kites.

 

We had a good time with our dutch friend and his daughter yesterday. Rhen is 80 and lost his elegant wifecto Dementia  and pneumonia last October.  It has been hard forvhim to come back to where hechad so many happy memories but he says that he's glad that he came. They stayed for 2 hours and chatted.  In the after as it was getting warm we headed for the pool.

 

This morning more tidying in the shed is on the agenda. The pool may well be used again this afternoin.

 

Thoughts very much with Baz and Mrs Baz i hope that the lady pulls through.

 

Jamie

[pH]

On 27/08/2022 at 15:08, Tony_S said:

Aditi has admitted to another sleep inducer in addition to French Department names and US state capitals. She recites the shipping forecast sea areas, and starts with Lundy for some reason. 
 

I have two lists I go through to try to induce sleep:

 

- the names of the LMS Coronation Pacifics, in number order

- Scottish Region loco sheds, in number order 

 

Since I’m sitting here trying to suppress a case of restless leg syndrome, I will shortly be making use of those lists.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I should really get my ar$e into gear and do something today as over the weekend I've done sweet Fanny Adams. But first the kettle needs to go on and I'll consider what to do over a muggatee.

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear is rather busy today....it's time for the Annual stock-take of the SCR......

 

Puppers @PupCam stands ready to assist with the ignition sequence......

 

 

Sorry @polybear, I can't do it today I'm washing my hair 😂

 

We'll have to do it another time.

[Winslow Boy]

 

Friends eh.

7 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

Sorry @polybear, I can't do it today I'm washing my hair 😂

 

We'll have to do it another time.

 

Don't you just hate it when you get all geared up ready to pop out somewhere nice and you so called best friend rings up and says he can't get his 'proverbial' in gear so can't make it.

 

[iL Dottore]

Bit of an unpleasant start this morning: on the way to get coffee in the kitchen, my right leg gave way (it happens occasionally - due to the arthrosis of the hip) and I went flying: shattering my "rather large" coffee mug (fortunately empty at the time) and landing on Schotty's metal food bowl stand (which I managed to bend out of shape!). Fortunately, I manged to land on the thickest part of my gluteus maximus. So I'm bruised and sore from the fall (mostly the GM but also lower back) but otherwise unharmed (or so it appears). The coffee mug was a write-off, but I managed to bend the metal food bowl stand (more or less) back into shape. I'll need some assistance in fully straightening it out (and it'll never be quite the same).

 

Whilst feeling sorry for myself I indulged in some retail therapy - well replacing the mug actually (and adding a few things extra to make the order worth while) and I was contemplating adding a beginners wooden ship model; however the Amazon "selection" (on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.it) was pretty bad (or to use the old fashioned Latin term: stercus, stercus, stercus). Undeterred I went to a "proper" model ship shop - flaming ada: I thought O Gauge brass models were expensive! One model of the HMS Victory costs a solid £1059 (https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/caldercraft-hms-victory/).

 

One particular manufacturer, Amati Models (an Italian company) makes some beautiful boat & ship kits, but surprisingly their most expensive kit is this little beauty: https://store.amatimodel.com/en/railways-models-by-amati/product-orient-express-sleeping-car-n3533-lx-b171401.html and as much I'd love to have one (in a nice display case) I certainly won't be able to sneak £689 worth of 1/32 railwayana past Mrs iD. Apparently, according to reviews, the only drawback of the model is that it is designed to be a static model - so the bogies would need attention to convert it into a running model.

 

Still, I consoled myself by acquiring one of these:

Should be a fun build!

 

Off to take a pink pill or two - enjoy the day

 

iD

Edited August 29, 2022 by iL Dottore
spelling

[Erichill16]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Puppers @PupCam stands ready to assist with the ignition sequence......

 

Does have a look of Gene Kranz, is it the short cropped hair and beady eyes? 

All he needs is a waist coat.
 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Erichill16
Spelling

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

As it's the last bank holiday until the ones in December, we had a lie in. So now that a late breakfast has been consumed I'm heading outside for a bit more gardening. This shouldn't take long as I did most of the work yesterday. So I might get some time in the workshop too. 

 

Back later 

 

Brian 

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

If true then this is shocking - and the Doc should be hauled up in front of the GMC:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/widow-forced-to-verify-husband-s-death-on-video-call-because-gp-would-not-visit/ar-AA11bZKj?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d67652d851b64b7da007c7fa4974c602

 

It is, he should and he should be struck off AND MADE A PUBLIC EXAMPLE OF just to remind his colleagues of their duty and their promise.

 

Don't get me started Bear on GPs ..........

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

But for the stairs I'll still need another 4m x 2m - I need to check when I may need to purchase that, as if the style/colour is dropped on 31st Dec (for example) then I'd be stuffed....

 

Puppers  is deeply puzzled.    Why not just buy it now and then you'll have it and all the carpet will be the same age and in the same condition when you come to fit it.   The chance of it being cheaper in n months time is slim, the chance of lack of availability high and the difference between old and new guaranteed!

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/you-pay-for-electricity-then-throw-it-away-gb-news-viewer-points-out-flaw-in-evs/ar-AA11bBCf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=f25d29a203fa4439f962ee375bb90f22

 

"I live in a flat so I don't have a home charger and I had to park it on the street. In the winter when temperatures dropped to freezing the Tesla lost five percent charge a day.

 

Another viewer named Sheila told GB News: "Coming back from Southport a couple of weeks ago we were stuck in a two-hour traffic jam with the temperature at 32 degrees.

"It was caused by an electric car having a flat battery in the middle of the road works. When they have flat batteries you can't push them."

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again;    General purpose EVs for the public at large is barking up the wrong tree  for numerous reasons.

 

Electric vehicles = Yes!

 

Battery vehicles = No!!!

 

Now, just sort out a "proper" electric technology that suits the way people actually want to use their private tin boxes or ban them completely (please no, we like ourindependence too much 🤞 )

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

[Tony_S]

30 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Should be a fun build!

Quite oarsome.

[simontaylor484]

Morning 

We are having a later start this morning before assembling more Billy bookcases.

@polybear if you have to plane/cut more off the bottom off the door you can always put a piece of softwood batten in at the bottom of the door. Me and my Grandad had to do this at my parents house for the small cupboard under the stairs. Some c*ckwomble had cut down a normal interior door then fitted it upside down therefore the "lock" side was on the hinge side and they wondered why they had to fasten a bit of skirting board to the back of the door so the handle would stay attached.

We cut down a new door and then added a softwood batten as a fillet between the stiles then planed to appropriate.

 

[simontaylor484]

8 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Quite oarsome.

Groan

[iL Dottore]

 

21 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Groan

It gets better….

Edited August 29, 2022 by iL Dottore

[iL Dottore]

50 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Quite oarsome.

 

We’ll have to sea how the build goes. I hope the instructions are good, without instructions one is quite rudderless, but with good instructions it’s just plain sailing. Obviously, I will have to be quite stern with myself and keep on an even keel with my construction progress. Although I am a fairly experienced modeller, I haven’t built many ships (in fact none) but if there are any experienced model shipbuilders on ER, I would be happy to bow to their superior knowledge - assuming they are willing to funnel any of their expertise in my direction (and if they are anywhere near my neighbourhood, I would be more than happy to share a glass of port with them. I am easy to find - just near monkey island)
p.s. I think I’d better wear clean sports shoes when making this model, I don’t want to leave any plimsoll lines

Edited August 29, 2022 by iL Dottore

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I would be happy to bow to their superior knowledge -

With your interest in culinary matters it doesn’t surprise me that you are building a galley.